Vela and Conaway among least-Googled congressmen

Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, has earned a few mentions in the news this last week for touring a detention center with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and joining Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, to invite President Barack Obama to visit South Texas.

Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, was the least-Googled congressman between June 2013 and May 2014 (Charles Dharapak/Associated Press)

But the freshman congressman, who represents a newly created district, alone has drawn little national attention since he took office last year – at least by one measure. Vela was the least-searched member of the House on Google between June 2013 and May 2014, the National Journal reported.

Vela, the son of a federal judge and Brownsville’s first female mayor, racked up 9,200 searches in that time period. The most-Googled congressman? House Speaker John Boehner, with more than 1.5 million searches.

Not far behind Vela was the least-searched Republican in the House: Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Midland, who came in fourth-to-last with 9,760 searches.

Conaway, who was first elected in 2004, serves as chairman of the House Committee on Ethics. He also sits on the Armed Services Committee, the Committee on Agriculture and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.